Route 24; all aboard the New Bus for London!

As of the morning of the 22nd June, route 24, which runs between Pimlico and Hampstead Heath became the very first route in London to be served entirely by the New Bus for London.

A Shot which George entitled the "Changeover".

Enthusiasts on the day, embarked on the journey to Hampstead Heath or Pimlico to what may have been TFL's most starstruck event of the year, so far.

The buses which operate on the route are practically similar to the 8 prototypes which currently operate on route 38 (between Victoria and Clapton Pond), but have had a few tweaks to ensure that the buses operate to the highest standard possible.

The 32 buses (costing £354,500 each and having an estimated lifespan of 14 years) which have been delivered for the route, are the first installment of 600 to be delivered over the next three years.

At peak times during the day, up to 27 of the buses will operate their way through the city of London, running through 'tourist hot-spots', such as Parliament and Trafalgar Sqaure.

Between approximately 6am and 8pm the rear platform door will remain open with a 'customer assistant ' (CA) present to provide, assistance, but not actually take fares — as usual, you must present an Oyster or bank card to board; after 8pm the rear door will be manually controlled by the driver of the bus.

For those who are interested in the 'specs', here they are;

• Length: 11.2m
• Height: 4.4m
• Width: 2.5m
• Turning circle: 21m
• Capacity: 87 (40 seated on upper deck, 22 seated and 25 standing on lower deck)
• Unladen weight: 12 tonnes
• Engine: 4.5 litre diesel
• Maximum speed: 50 mph

Pictured above is LT24 going through a blind scroll and landing on route 16; starting speculation of the routes future.....

George's Testimonial:

By now, I think we can all agree to some extent that these buses can be referred to Marmite; you either, love it, or hate it. 
Personally, I loathe it. This feeling deepened on the day... Let me brief you.

On the 22nd of June, I arrived at 5am after viewing the solstice sunrise at Parliament Hill (about a mile away). I was told that duty 24 would be the first NB4L journey.

There were about 20 people at the Heath; Journalists, enthusiasts and bemused public from a night out. I was disappointed to find that this was not the case. In fact, the first Borismaster would be at 6:45AM, with TFL giant, Leon Daniels driving & Jaspal Singh (CEO of Metroline) conducting. I was already too tired, so I decided not to bother and went home.

Take 2:

By 11am, I arrived again at the Heath to be greeted by Lawrence. We tried to snap through the midst of all the people crammed into the stand. I took many pictures here. However, I really couldn't decide the best location to do so.

  Therefore, I chose the only picture that I thought had a decent composition of the day. 

I rode these on the buses a few minutes later. I couldn't help notice the tackiness of the bus. Reformed plastic everywhere! They looked slightly less well made than the 8 prototypes on the 38. Poorly cut ventilation holes, gaps in seats, broken lights, noise fans, Door warning noises. All distressed me.

However, I will live. Although, I don't think the buses will.

September will see the next batch of these vehicles hitting the road on route 11, running between Liverpool Street and Fulham Broadway to bus company Go-Ahead London.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and look out for the 'fleetlist page' which will contain photos of the whole NBfL fleet!

Thanks for Reading!

Feel free to comment on what you think about the new buses!